Love Never Dies
by AshMichele
Summary: Rachel goes to Carmel instead of McKinley for her freshman year because of their arts programs. What happens when Shelby becomes her coach? Can they finally get the mother/daughter relationship they've both dreamed about?
1. Chapter 1

**So I randomly came up with the idea for this in the middle of class. I didn't want to do my school work so I just plotted for this instead and wrote the first chapter! I hope you like it, let me know what you think at the end. Please review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee. Trust me, if I did, Idina Menzel would be in every episode.**

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Rachel Berry lied in her bed. It was a Sunday evening and dusk had just approached. Though it was a little earlier than her usual bedtime, she figured she should probably try to go to bed a little earlier than usual so she could be perfectly alert tomorrow. It, being her first day of high school, had to be perfect and her normal eight hour sleep requirement wouldn't cut it.

She tossed and turned for a few minutes, but couldn't contain her excitement, so she sat up and grabbed the laptop that was on the table beside of her bed. She opened the computer up and went to YouTube and searched "Vocal Adrenaline" into the search bar. As she watched the video, she couldn't help but smile in admiration. They were perfect. From their dance moves to their vocals, it was absolute perfection. No wonder they had won so many national titles. It was everything she wanted to be a part of. That was why she begged her fathers to allow her to go to Carmel High instead of McKinley. McKinley High School's arts programs were terrible. She needed to think of her future career, plus she believed that she would be more appreciated at Carmel. Her middle school years consisted of constant taunts and she figured she could make a new name for herself at Carmel. It would be good for her.

She watched a few more videos and went to sleep with a smile on her face. She honestly could not wait to be a part of Vocal Adrenaline. She'd prepared for the audition since summer started, therefore everything was ready. It was only a matter of time.

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Her dads dropped her off at school. She entered the school to find a huge commons area. There were so many people there that it was beyond difficult to weave her way through the unfamiliar faces. A voice came on the P.A. system. "All freshman report to the auditorium," it said. A mob of students left the commons, and entered the auditorium. There were so many people. Rachel grabbed a seat towards the front where there were less people. For once, she didn't want to be the center of attention.

A man who looked to be in his fifties stepped on stage and grabbed a microphone. He was obviously the principal of the school. "When I call your name, please come up here and get your schedule. When you get it, please leave for your first class. Thank you," he said. Rachel was glad her last name started with "B" which meant she would be one of the first they called. She didn't want to wait forever.

Once she got her schedule, she headed off to her first period where she basically just sat there. People were still walking into the room from the auditorium so it would have been pointless to start on anything with people coming in at different times. The next two periods were just as boring. The teachers just went over simple, self explanatory classroom rules. As the bell rang for fourth period to start, her heart jumped. It was music class with Miss Corcoran who is the coach of Vocal Adrenaline. She had to make a good impression with her if she wanted to be in her show choir. She quickly mentally prepared herself, and then made her way to the music room.

She walked into the huge room. The back consisted of nothing but mirror, obviously to use when teaching choreography. There was a desk in the right corner. The left side of the room had three grand pianos. This school obviously had good funding just by the looks of the room. In the middle of the room, there were chairs. The bell rang and the class filled with only seventeen students sat down.

Miss Corcoran hadn't shown up for class yet, so everyone assumed she was in her office. Everyone started talking amongst themselves. Rachel was deep in thought, going over her audition in her head, as she did any free second she ever got. Perfection was obviously important to her, and she wanted nothing less. Suddenly a voice beside her spoke. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth. I can't say I've seen you before. Did you go to Carmel middle?"

Rachel woke from her trance. "I'm Rachel, and no I didn't. I actually went to McKinley middle."

"Oh, I see." Elizabeth said. "So you don't know anyone here, do you? Wow. I couldn't imagine how hard that must be on you."

"It's not really that bad. Middle school wasn't…the best for me. So I'm really glad to be here. I'm especially excited for this class. I really want to join Vocal Adrenaline." Rachel stopped talking when Elizabeth's eyes widened. "What?"

"It's just that…you want to join Vocal Adrenaline? You do know that Miss Corcoran is a total slave driver, right?"

"So I've heard. But she's a good coach. I read online that she was even on some off-Broadway stuff. I'm dying to hear her sing. People say her voice will give you chills the second she opens her mouth to sing."

"My cousin's in Vocal Adrenaline and he said that she sings all the time to demonstrate how to do stuff. She apparently has the voice of an angel," Elizabeth added. "I'm not going to lie though, I'm rather intimidated. She's tough, and if you get on her bad side, you're done for."

Just then, a door opened. A woman with dark brown locks that held loose curls walked in. Rachel could already tell that she was going to admire her from the second she walked into the room. She pranced with such grace and poise with a hint of theatricality. "Hello, everyone. Sorry I'm late. Let's hurry up and get started. As you should already know, I'm Miss Corcoran. I'm going to go ahead and say that if you're just in here to fill your schedule and you're not really serious about music, get out. I don't have time to deal with slackers who don't care. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me call roll and we'll begin."

She started to call out names of the kids in the classroom. When Miss Corcoran got to Rachel's name, Rachel could have sworn she paused for a second. Rachel shrugged off the thought, assuming she was just being paranoid. They spent the rest of the period going over what they would be doing for the remainder of the week. They were going to be going over the different musical eras, starting with the Renaissance, and ending with the 20th century.

The bell rang and everyone stood up. "Hey Rachel, do you have lunch now?" Elizabeth asked. Rachel nodded. "Me too. You should sit with me and some of my friends."

Rachel smiled. "Okay, thanks! I'm going to talk to Miss Corcoran about audition for her show choir before I go though. I'll come find you afterwards!"

"Good luck! I'll save you a seat." And with that, Elizabeth walked out of the room. Rachel and Miss Corcoran were the only ones in the room.

"Excuse me, Miss Corcoran?"

Miss Corcoran raised her head up to see who was speaking to her. Her face looked annoyed at first but when she saw who it was, it softened to Rachel's confusion. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if I could maybe possibly audition for a spot on Vocal Adrenaline. I've heard all about your work and you seem to be absolutely brilliant and it would be a total dream come true for me, though I do understand that you have been practicing all summer so if the answer is no, I totally understand." Rachel stopped her rambling at that. She knew if she kept going, she wouldn't be able to stop. It was kind of a problem for her, but she was working on it.

Miss Corcoran just stared at her for a second, which made Rachel apprehensive. Finally, Shelby spoke up. "Um…I don't usually let people join late in the season, but it seems you really did your research. Sing for me."

"Now?" Rachel asked, stunned though being able to belt a song out on demand before proper warm-ups was one of her many talents. Besides, she had gone over her audition so many times that she could do it in her sleep.

When Miss Corcoran nodded at Rachel's question, Rachel began to sing. The song was "On My Own" from the Broadway classic Les Mis. Anyone who knows anything about the musical world knew that song so Rachel believed it to be the perfect audition selection. Rachel sang the whole song through. She had expected Miss Corcoran to stop her in the middle or something, but she actually looked kind of into the song to Rachel's utter surprise. When the song was over, Miss Corcoran looked to be in a trance. "Was this normal?" Rachel thought to herself.

Miss Corcoran snapped out of it a couple of seconds later. "You're in."

"I am?" Rachel beamed, obviously not being able to contain her excitement.

Miss Corcoran smiled back. "Practice starts tomorrow, directly after school until six."

"Thank you so, so, so much Miss Corcoran! Really, this means so much to me." And with that, Rachel skipped out of the music room and into the cafeteria to find Elizabeth. She found her at the same time Elizabeth spotted her, and Elizabeth patted the empty seat next to her. Rachel walked to the circular table, sat down and pulled her vegan lunch out of her purse that consisted of grapes, strawberries, and carrot sticks.

"Hey guys, this is Rachel! She went to McKinley for middle school so she's new to Carmel. Rachel, these are my friends Justin, Rebecca, Taylor, Katie, Mike, and my cousin Jesse. Jesse's the one I told you about that's in Vocal Adrenaline. Speaking of which, did Miss Corcoran say you could audition?"

"I actually did just now and she said I was in." Everyone looked at her with confused looks on their faces. "What?"

"She let you in? Just like that? Wow…" Taylor said, still with a completely shocked expression on her face that matched everyone else's.

"Does she not normally…?" Rachel asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you kidding? She usually makes you go through you-know-where and back for a spot just so she knows you're going to be dedicated. People are lucky to even make it through the tryout." Jesse responded.

"Really? She just made me sing."

"Well you were definitely really lucky." Katie laughed. "I didn't make it through my tryout. Neither did Mike or Rebecca. Taylor and Jesse did, somehow. I do think she went a little easy on Jesse though just because he's kind of the best one there, or he's going to be by the time his senior year comes. He's the lead, which is rare because he's only a junior. Taylor's a senior and the lead soprano so she basically gets all the solos."

"I don't even care about solos, I'm just happy to be in. Your group is so talented," Rachel said, directing her words towards Taylor and Jesse.

"Thank you," Taylor said. "So I guess we'll see you at practice tomorrow?"

"That you will."

Rachel finished lunch and the rest of her class periods. She figured she might actually like it here at Carmel.

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"How was your first day at school?" Toby, Rachel's African American father asked later on that night when he and his husband Chris got home from work.

"It was incredible, daddy. Guess what? The music teacher let me in their show choir! Can you believe it? I'm in the best show choir in the state!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Did you even doubt for a second that you wouldn't make it in? You're the best singer around," said Chris.

"You know I can't argue with that statement, but the people I met today and ate lunch with said that it's almost impossible to get a spot on there and all the director did was make me sing. She seems to be really nice."

"Well that's great Rachel," Toby said sincerely, glad his daughter was connecting so well with her new school.

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**So, what do you think so far? I hope you like it, please review. I want to get at least five reviews before I put up the next chapter. Also, constructive criticism is HIGHLY appreciated. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I got SO many reviews in one day, so I decided to put up another chapter! It's short, but it means a lot to me that you guys took the time to review so quickly so I wanted to give you a little something to thank you! Please review when you're done!**

Shelby Corcoran got home from the school day remembering everything that had happened. She got to speak to her daughter in person! Which of course Rachel didn't actually know that she was her daughter, but it was still such an overwhelming feeling after all of these years. And to hear her sing was, wow. It was such an indescribable feeling.

"Snap out of it, Shelby," she said aloud to herself. "You have to stop thinking about this. This can't happen. Something has to be done. The contract…the stupid contract…"

That was when Shelby fell to her knees and started crying. Thoughts of the day's occurrences ran through her head. She had such an urge just to pull her daughter in for a hug and just hold her like she never got to do before, but she fought it. Rachel looked just like her for god's sake! Her voice was incredible. Shelby couldn't help but imagine what would have become of Rachel's voice if she would have been trained by Shelby all her life. Rachel was her inside and out.

"I want my baby," Shelby mumbled thinking of how she should have fought harder to keep Rachel. "The contract…"

Then, as if a light bulb went off in her brain, she remembered the contract and that allowing Rachel to be in Vocal Adrenaline might deviate it. She had to call the Berry men and let them know of this before things got out of hand. She got up, grabbed the phone, then the phone book. Luckily, their number was in the local listings.

Shelby paced back and forth for awhile before dialing. She really didn't know if she was going to be able to stay strong and keep from begging for her baby back. She then decided she was going to treat this as if it were an acting assignment. That was the only way. She slowly dialed and heart fluttered at every ring.

"Hello?" The sound of Chris's voice said from the other end of the phone line.

"Hello, Chris. This is Shelby Corcoran. I know this is rather out of the blue, but we have a problem." Shelby stated, her nerves obviously coming out through her voice.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" Chris asked, concerned.

"Everything's fine but you see…I'm Rachel's music teacher." Shelby closed her eyes. She couldn't even imagine what Chris's response would be.

"Excuse me for a moment, I would like for my husband to get on the other phone." With that, Toby got on and Chris explained the situation.

"So what should we do?" Shelby asked.

"We can't make you quit your job," Toby began. "It wasn't as if you planned this, we're the ones that are out of the school district. We'll just have to pull her out of your music class, I guess."

Shelby was afraid of this. Even though it would kill her to be near her daughter every day without having a proper mother-daughter bond with her, it would still be an amazing feeling to have her there with her. Shelby knew she had to say something and quick or she would miss out on the only chance she might have at a reunion with her daughter. "No, please don't do that. She looked so excited to be in show choir. I can assure you, if you let her stay in, I will not tell her a single thing. You have my word."

"She has in fact been talking about Vocal Adrenaline all summer…she says you're the best." Chris explained.

Shelby smiled. "She has good taste."

"So I guess we'll let her stay in as long as you do not say a single thing," Toby said. "There's one more thing though…"

"What is it?" Shelby asked.

"You can't sing around her," said Toby.

"And why is that?"

"Do you remember a month before Rachel was born and you recorded yourself singing Brahms Lullaby and you asked us to play it for her when she was a baby before she went to sleep?"

The memory of that swept over Shelby. She remembered that she wanted to somehow be a part of Rachel's upbringing, even though she couldn't technically be there. "Yes."

"Well we stopped playing the tape when she was approaching her first birthday because we didn't want her to ask any questions. One day when she was eight, she asked about her mother. She asked if we had something to show her who she is, a photograph maybe. We said no, but she was persistent, as she still is today. We really didn't have a picture of you, but we had the tape so we decided to finally let her listen to it. She grew so fond of the tape that she would listen to it constantly. It's actually a miracle that it hasn't been worn out by now. She didn't listen to it that much when she was ten and eleven just because she knew it made us somewhat uncomfortable. As her preteen years came along she started getting…verbally bullied at times at school. Whenever she had a bad day, she would come home and listen to the tape. She didn't know we knew she was listening to it, but we did which is why whenever she was sad, we started to bring her a glass of water. It worked, and even got to the point where it seemed as though she couldn't tell if she was sad or just thirsty. From then on, she really didn't use the tape but every now and then we catch her listening, which is due to her curiosity, I assume. Rachel has a talent to hear things. The second you start to sing, she'll know." Toby explained.

Shelby let the story soak in. She couldn't help but feel touched that her daughter appreciated something she gave to her as an infant so much.

"Wow," Shelby finally said, dumbfounded. "Okay. I won't sing. I promise. Just…let her stay. She enjoys Carmel. I can tell."

With that, they ended the phone conversation. Shelby crawled into her bed and curled into a ball, trying to keep the tears from coming. She had never been so vulnerable. She needed to toughen up. She was in fact going to have to face her daughter the next day at school. How? She had no idea.

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**Again, this is really short, but I hope you like how it's going so far. Let me know what you think. The more reviews I get, the faster I want to write. Also, what would you guys think of a little St. Berry? It wouldn't be like a huge thing because I want this story to mostly revolve around Shelby and Rachel's relationship, but I think I'd be able to fit a little into the story if you'd want it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Your reviews make me so happy! Please keep them coming, because they mean the world to me. I know you guys are ready for Rachel to find out, trust me I am too. Haha. I just don't want to rush things. I hate unrealistic fanfictions that do that. Any****ways! A bunch of people are all "Rachel's dads names are Hiram and Leroy", but I didn't want to use those names because I already had used the ones I'm using now in my other fic. Haha. Let me know if you like this chapter or not pretty please. **

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It was the next day and Rachel walked into the auditorium. Though the day had been absolutely fantastic with her new friends, and her classes not being as hard as she expected, she was nervous about her first practice on Vocal Adrenaline. It seemed as though Miss Corcoran wouldn't even look her in the eye today in class. Miss Corcoran hadn't arrived yet, but Rachel was already preparing herself. She walked to the front where everyone was sitting in the audience chairs. She sat by Taylor, who was chatting with Jesse.

"Hey kid," Taylor said, noticing her beside her. "Are you excited?"

"Very much so, but also rather intimidated," Rachel admitted.

"Why? You obviously have a good voice. I haven't heard it but Miss Corcoran let you in, didn't she? Don't be nervous. And if Miss Corcoran yells at you, don't take it to heart. She yells at everyone. She just wants to make you better, and us perfect." Taylor explained.

"Noted," Rachel quietly said as Shelby walked in across the stage.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I would just like to start out by saying that we now have a new member. Her name is Rachel Berry. I would like everyone to please come up here and show her the number that we are currently working on just so she'll have an idea of what we've been doing thus far and we'll work her in there somehow." Shelby announced.

Everyone stood up and got on stage, except for Rachel. Shelby made her way off of the stage and couldn't help herself…She sat by Rachel, which made the smaller girl immediately stiffen. The group started to sing a medley of songs from Spring Awakening. Their dance moves looked difficult, but nothing Rachel couldn't handle. She had in fact been dancing since she could walk. Vocals wouldn't be a problem because, well, it was Rachel Berry. Her only concern was making a mistake and feeling the wrath of which Miss Corcoran supposedly contains. Though Rachel liked to believe she was perfect, (which most of the times she was) she made mistakes too.

Shelby stood up, eyeing her daughter, wishing she knew what was running through the young girl's head. "Very good, everyone, but it needs some work. Taylor, work on putting more feeling into the beginning solo of 'Mama Who Bore Me'. I just wasn't getting it."

Rachel was stunned by Miss Corcoran's words because she was actually thinking the same exact thing. Though Taylor was good, she lacked much emotion and needed to make things clearer so it would show through, thus moving the audience.

"Do you think she'll be able to catch up? It's a little late and sectionals are in a few months," someone in the back said, snapping Rachel out of her thoughts.

An annoyed expression cross Shelby's face. "Obviously, I mean if I thought she didn't have what it took, I wouldn't have let her in." She turned to Rachel, "You'll be fine honey, don't worry."

As soon as Shelby let the word "honey" slip, she knew she had made an unintentional mistake that would for sure lead to speculation. Whispers and murmurs filled the auditorium as everyone was shocked from Shelby's niceness towards Rachel. Shelby was never that soft. She knew she had to do something to redeem herself so she quickly yelled at them to get back into place, startling them all. That was the Shelby they were all used to.

Practice went on and six o'clock suddenly approached. "Okay everyone, good practice," Shelby announced. "Everyone, you're dismissed. Rachel, I need to talk to you for a minute."

Everyone left, and Rachel walked down the stage. She approached Miss Corcoran who was leaning on one of the chairs in the front row. "So, how'd you like it?"

Rachel smiled one of her famous smiles that could light up a whole town. "It was great! I mean, I'm behind but I think I'll be caught up pretty soon. Thank you so much for giving me a chance. You really are an amazing coach. The best actually, and I heard the only thing you do better than coaching is singing. I'd love to hear you sometime."

Shelby reached out and cupped the small girl's face into her hands. "Maybe you will…someday." She held her position like that, then as if realizing that she shouldn't be doing what she was doing, released it abruptly. "See you tomorrow," she said making her way towards the exit.

Rachel gathered her things and headed for the door. Before she reached them, she saw Jesse standing in the corner. "Hey, Rachel."

"Hello Jesse. I thought everyone had left already."

"I was actually waiting for you," he admitted. "I just wanted to tell you that if you want I can help you catch up with the dance stuff sometime."

"That'd be great, actually. Though I am very experienced in dancing, I do admit that the difficulty of the steps are a challenge for even me," Rachel said.

"Cool," Jesse couldn't help but smile. "Not that it's difficult for you, of course, but that you'll let me help you catch up on the dance steps. I mean, if you catch up fast, you have a lesser chance of getting on Miss Corcoran's bad side. Then again, from the looks of today, it looks like you have nothing to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Rachel questioned.

"I don't know, she was just acting…not herself in there with you. Usually she always has this look of determination on her face and like she's ready to pounce on you if you do something wrong but it's different with you…the way she looks at you, it's softer. It's something none of us have ever seen before. It's weird. I would say it's because you're new, but that's never happened with new people before, either."

"Oh…I see," Rachel said. "Maybe she just likes my voice and doesn't want to scare me away or something. She'll probably treat me like everyone else tomorrow since it won't be my first day and all."

"Maybe…anyways, we can work on the dance steps this weekend." Jesse wrote an address in the palm of Rachel's hand. "That's the dance studio I always practice in. Just meet me there. How's Saturday at 4?"

"Sounds great."

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**You guys said you wanted a little St. Berry so it's coming up, but like I said, it's not going to be like a huge role in the story. I'm definitely a huge fan of the whole Shelby/Rachel mother/daughter aspect so I like writing about them having the happy ending they never got on the show. Okay, I'm done rambling. Haha. Please review, I want to try to get to 40 reviews before I put up the next chapter. Reviews motivate me. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Since you guys reviewed so quickly, I decided to put up a new chapter quickly! Thanks for being so great, you're the best. Let me know what you think of this chapter when you're done reading it! By the way, if you have a Twitter account, follow me if you want! PrincessLeaFans is my name.**

The weekend rolled around and Rachel was getting ready for her meet-up with Jesse. The rest of the week's Vocal Adrenaline practices were pretty much the same as her first practice. Miss Corcoran was obviously softer on Rachel than everyone else, and everyone saw it. Rachel knew it wouldn't last for long though. Miss Corcoran had to be going easy on her because she was new. It was only a matter of time before she exploded on her.

Chris dropped her off at the address Jesse had given her. She walked in and approached the front desk of the dance studio. "Hello, I'm looking for Jesse St. James."

"Down the hallway, second door on the right," the receptionist said, not even looking up from the book she was reading.

Rachel made her way into where she was instructed. She found Jesse sitting in a chair putting on his dance shoes. "Hello Rachel," he smiled.

"Hi," Rachel responded. "Thanks for taking the time to help me today."

"Don't mention it," Jesse said.

They spent the next hour and a half going over everything. Rachel had caught on to a lot of the steps during rehearsals, so this extra amount of practice basically just perfected everything. When they were done, they were walking to collect their things that were placed to the side. Rachel tripped on one of the bags, but just as she was about to hit the ground, Jesse caught her. She looked up and her heart fluttered when their eyes met. She wasn't sure if it was because of Jesse or one of those mini-heart attack things that tend to happen when you fall unexpectedly.

"Wow, thanks," Rachel said softly, eyes still locked with Jesse's.

"It's nothing," Jesse replied, still holding the small girl in his arms.

Their faces, as if like magnets, grew closer and closer until they could feel the heat radiating from each other. Their lips met softly, then released. Rachel closed her eyes, then abruptly released herself from his grasp.

"What?" Jesse asked.

"Elizabeth told me that you and Taylor are an item, therefore this cannot happen," Rachel explained.

"So? Maybe we are dating, but that doesn't mean anything."

"What, so you just expect me to be okay with you kissing me while you're dating another girl?"

Rachel started to leave, but Jesse stopped her. "Look Rachel, you don't understand. Last year was when we started dating. It was shaky for the first month, or at least in my opinion it was. It was awkward, really, so I planned on breaking up with her but the same day, Miss Corcoran went super crazy on her. She said that the only reason she was staying in Vocal Adrenaline is because of me. I knew that if I broke up with her, she would quit. I couldn't have her leave; we need her to win nationals. If we don't win nationals, I won't get my scholarship. You don't understand, I really need that scholarship Rachel."

"I don't think that's fair to Taylor. You need to tell her what you just told me otherwise we cannot do this again," Rachel stated firmly. "It wouldn't be right."

Rachel was making her way towards the exit when Jesse called out to her. "I won't give up. You can count on that. Jesse St. James always gets what he wants." And with that, Rachel was gone.

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The next day at lunch had been awkward. Rachel couldn't bring herself to look Jesse in the eye and she felt as if everyone knew. She had felt so guilty for kissing him behind Taylor's back and though Taylor would be gone next year because of graduation, she still didn't know if she wanted to be with Jesse. He was in fact lying to Taylor and if he could be so easily dishonest with Taylor, how dishonest would he be with her? Rachel had trust issues as it was, no need to make things worse.

Her walk to the auditorium for practice seemed too short. She dreaded it, because it meant being in the same room as both Jesse and Taylor…together. She walked in and joined everyone in a line on stage, waiting for Coach Corcoran. Once she arrived, she instructed them to go over the Spring Awakening medley. They did it over, and over, and over. They took a short break, then Miss Corcoran told them to do one more run through before practice ended. Taylor started to sing the beginning solo, when Miss Corcoran stopped her.

"Taylor, we've discussed this how many times? Show more emotion. Think of your dog dying, I don't care. Just give me something!" Miss Corcoran demanded.

"Coach, no disrespect but I'm really trying. Could you please show me what you're talking about because an example would be nice," Taylor fired back.

Miss Corcoran started to open her mouth to speak with an expression on her face that was ready accept Taylor's challenge, but then closed her mouth and reopened it again and her facial expression unreadable. "I shouldn't have to show you or anyone else how to sing their part. This is the nation's best show choir, meaning advanced performers! If you can't do the part, then I can easily give it to someone else. Rachel, sing."

"What?" Rachel's heart stopped. Did she really hear the last part of Miss Corcoran's words?

"Sing the solo for me really quickly. I want to see if you can interpret the song and can actually do it justice," Shelby instructed, ignoring the group's shocked faces throughout the auditorium.

"I…uh…okay…" Rachel stuttered. She began to sing. She got lost in the song, as she always did when she sang. She closed her eyes for a slight second, then peered into Miss Corcoran's who seemed to be just as into the song as she. When the song ended, no one said a word. They just looked at Miss Corcoran who was glaring at Rachel.

"You've got the solo from now on," Miss Corcoran finally let out.

"What?" Rachel and Taylor said in unison.

Rachel looked at Taylor, who looked back at Rachel with a death stare.

"Miss Corcoran, she's a freshman!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Yes I know, but regardless of class ranking, she did the better job with it. Sorry Taylor, but you're not always going to get the part that you want. Trust me; I learned that the hard way. But everyone, you can go home now. It's 6:15. See you tomorrow, don't be late."

On Rachel's way out to the parking lot to find her dad's car, Taylor stopped her and murmured, "I'll ruin you, Berry."

"But it wasn't my fault -" It was too late, Taylor was already gone and half way down the parking lot headed toward her car.

As if that wasn't enough, Jesse too stopped in front of her. "You were amazing! I didn't know you were that good. You can easily replace Taylor. Speaking of which, since you have the solo now and we don't really need Taylor that much anymore, I was thinking -"

"Just leave me alone, Jesse," Rachel pleaded, walking away from him. She spotted her dad's car and ran to it.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Toby asked.

"Nothing, daddy. I'm just stressed. I have a lot of homework and stuff. I'll be in my room the remainder of the evening due to that if you and dad could please not disturb me that would be really great. You know how I am, I need full concentration," Rachel replied. She hated lying to her father, but there was only one thing she needed in this instance when she felt this terrible and they didn't quite approve of what that was.

They got home and Rachel quickly ran upstairs to her room and shut her door. She got out her earphones and cassette player. The tape she needed to hear was already in the player. When she hit play, a smooth voice started to sing. At that moment, her nervousness of what was to come tomorrow after Taylor's threat, her annoyance with Jesse, everything, disappeared as she continued to listen to her mother sing. It's true that nothing really is as comforting as the sound of your mother's voice.

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**Tell me what you think! Please review, because the faster you review, the more motivated I am! I will say that I think you guys are going to love the next chapter. No, Rachel won't find out next chapter but you'll have to wait and see what I have in store. Hahaha. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay on posting, I had a long weekend. Haha. But here this is. I hope you like it. It's some Shelby/Rachel! Let me know what you think when you're done reading it!**

The next morning had just been a blur. Her head was throbbing from a major headache. She went through the first three periods of the day, but as fourth period was fastly approaching, she couldn't help but be nervous about what Elizabeth would say to her. She was indeed very good friends with Taylor and if Taylor had followed through on her word to destroy her, getting to Elizabeth would be the start of it all.

Rachel walked into the choir room and noticed that the usual empty seat next to Elizabeth that Rachel always sat in was now filled by someone Rachel had never talked to. When Elizabeth and the girl noticed Rachel's presence, they began to whisper. "Great," Rachel thought. So with that, she took the last empty seat which was far away from Elizabeth on the other side of the room.

The whole class period Rachel had tried to get Elizabeth's attention, but Elizabeth was either too into Miss Corcoran's lesson on the Baroque age composer, George Fredrick Handel, or was ignoring her all together. Rachel hoped it was the first one, but knew deep down that it wasn't true. Finally the bell rang and everyone stood up to leave. Rachel quickly walked over to Elizabeth before she could walk out of the door.

"Hey," Rachel pushed herself to say. "I know you've probably heard about what happened yesterday already, but I just wanted to say that I didn't mean to -"

"Save it," Elizabeth interrupted her. "It's Taylor's last year in Vocal Adrenaline and you have no idea since you're new to how things work here at Carmel, but she's worked so hard to build herself to the top. You have three years left to take the spotlight. You could have at least said something to attempt to stop Miss Corcoran."

She turned to leave, and then turned back around. "Oh, and as if it weren't obvious already, you're going to have to find a new place to sit at lunch. Good luck with that." Elizabeth then left the room. Rachel turned around to go get her things.

"Great," she muttered under her breath.

Shelby was sitting at her desk minding her own business, though she had heard everything said between Rachel and Elizabeth. Her heart broke for her daughter. She wanted so badly to step in and stop it all but she knew the only way to truly stop it all would be to give Taylor her solo back, and that was not going to happen. No, she hadn't given Rachel the solo just because she was her daughter, she was talented and it fit well with her voice.

Shelby couldn't fight it anymore. Rachel's dads only said that she couldn't tell Rachel who she was, and she couldn't sing in front of her. They said nothing about simply talking to her one on one, so as Rachel was getting her stuff from under her chair when Shelby finally spoke up.

"Is everything okay?" She asked Rachel. She kicked herself for asking such a stupid question, because obviously the girl was anything but okay.

Rachel looked up, and looked around the room to see if there was any chance that Miss Corcoran could have been talking to someone else. Noticing that she and Miss Corcoran were the only ones in the room, she then replied with a simple "Yes, everything is fine".

"Are you sure? You can talk to me if you want," Shelby said, probably sounding too desperate than she probably should, but she couldn't help it. Her baby was hurting and she wanted to comfort her more than anything in the world.

"Yes, mom, I'm sure," Rachel froze as the words left her mouth. Did she really just slip and call one of the supposed meanest teachers at Carmel high, 'mom'? She was kicking herself for thinking so much about her mother lately, which most likely triggered the word slip-up.

Shelby's stomach dropped. Did Rachel know? If so, why hadn't she said anything before now? So many questions were running through her mind but before they could get too out of hand, Rachel spoke again.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Wow, I didn't mean to call you that, I swear. It was an accident," Rachel babbled.

"It's fine, honey, calm down," Shelby replied, walking over to the small girl in the middle of the classroom.

"I really didn't mean to. It's just that I've been thinking about my mom so much due to recent occurrences, but it's just petty things so it's nothing so I'll just be going," Rachel stated, then turned around. As she did so, Shelby grabbed her hand. Even though it seemed as though the girl didn't want to talk about it, she had to know what she was thinking about when she said she was thinking about her mom. There was no turning back now.

Shelby turned Rachel around, not letting go of her hand. She saw a small tear go down Rachel's cheek and that's when she embraced her in a hug. Rachel found it rather awkward considering she had been so scared of this teacher just last week which made the hug really tense at first but, she soon softened and let her head fall into place in the teacher's neck. Shelby released the hug, and grabbed Rachel's hands again.

"Sit down," Shelby instructed.

Rachel did as she was told.

"What's going on?" Shelby asked.

Rachel informed Shelby of everything, starting with Jesse, and ending with Taylor and Elizabeth. Shelby just sat and took everything in. She wanted to kill Taylor for threatening her baby. It just wasn't right.

"I think you should give the solo back to Taylor. Elizabeth is right, Taylor deserves it. She's worked so hard and I've only been a part of the team for a week now."

"Rachel, you have to know that I'm doing what's best for the team. You're better than all of them in there. You have a future. I don't care how long you've been in there, the solo always goes to the best and that's you," Shelby honestly stated. "As for Elizabeth, she'll come around, and Taylor will get over it. I always got the vibe that her heart wasn't really in Vocal Adrenaline. She'll be mad for awhile, but just give her some space and everything will be okay eventually. I promise."

"Thanks," Rachel said, looking down.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, you said earlier that you were thinking about your mom lately…what did you mean by that?" Shelby knew she shouldn't ask, but her yearn to know her daughter's thoughts overpowered her and she just went for it.

"Well…you see, I have two gay dads so I really don't have a mother. I mean, I do, but she was just a surrogate and I've never met her," Rachel paused and looked at Miss Corcoran and since she actually seemed interested, she decided to continue with her story. "I remember when I was little and one of my friends fell off the swing and hurt themselves or something on the playground, their mom would be right there to comfort them and make them feel better. Of course my dads always did the same thing, but it just wasn't the same, you know? After my mom gave me up, she left me a tape of her singing. She's incredible…she has the most beautiful voice I've ever heard in my life. I don't like listening to it though, because I can sense that it hurts my dads' feelings because they can't comfort me like the tape does, but sometimes when I have moments like these, it's the only thing that helps. I don't know why, but it does. I just have so many questions that I wouldn't dare ask my fathers. What was mom like? Why can't I meet her? Does she just want nothing to do with me?"

With that Shelby stopped her. Her eyes were watering and she felt that if Rachel continued, she would probably break down in tears. "Rachel, there is no doubt in my mind that your mother wants something to do with you. She probably cares about you and loves you so much. Maybe there are just complications…"

"I suppose you could be right," Rachel responded.

Shelby didn't know what to feel. She wanted so badly to tell her daughter everything and that she loved her more than anything in the world and hold her but she couldn't and it killed her. It wasn't fair that her baby girl had to wonder so much.

"I should probably go, sorry for spilling all this on you," Rachel finally spoke, breaking the short silence.

Shelby didn't want Rachel to go so soon. "Wait, your lunch period is right now, right?" Shelby asked, stopping Rachel from getting up.

"Yes."

"So is mine, if you want you can stay in here and eat with me. That way you can give your friends a little space and time to get over everything," Shelby suggested.

Rachel thought about this. She really didn't want to have to face the school right now so she took Shelby up on her offer. They sat and talked about their favorite musicals and they seemed to have the same interests, which made Shelby proud.

When the bell rang, neither wanted to part from each other. Rachel was surprised at how much being with Miss Corcoran had really made her feel better. It felt good to get all of those feelings out, especially her feelings about her mother in which she had never told anyone about.

Rachel stood up and grabbed her things. "I just wanted to say thank you so much for listening to me vent today…it helped more than you know and I honestly feel so much better."

"You're welcome," Shelby smiled. "Just know that you can talk to me anytime about anything. I'm always here."

* * *

**This isn't really that unrealistic because I've definitely accidentally called a teacher "mom" before...granted it wasn't because I was thinking about my mom, it was because the teacher was lecturing me or something and it reminded me too much of my mom's lectures or something. Haha. Anyway! Please review! The more reviews I get, the quicker I want to write!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Just a short chapter! Sorry for the wait, I was sick and didn't really feel like writing. Plus exams are tomorrow. Haha. So...yeah. Anyways, please review because they mean the world to me.**

Shelby watched her daughter leave the choir room. She didn't want to part with her. Lunch had been perfect. They clicked, though Rachel only knew her as almost a stranger. She had finally got to hold her baby girl after all of the years. She had longed for that moment ever since Rachel looked up at her in the hospital so many years ago…it had been everything she had been fantasizing about.

Her smile faded at a simple thought. The contract. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. She loved bonding with her baby, but she couldn't stand the fact that Rachel was absolutely clueless. It wasn't fair to her that she couldn't know who her mom was, that she wasn't allowed to. Her story about wanting her mother had broken Shelby's heart so much that she almost told Rachel right then and there, but she had to forcefully stop herself. Even a single word could slip and violate the contract. She thought it would be easy to control what she said but it was tough.

She then thought of what would happen if this carried on, bonding with Rachel and all. Her dads were bound to find out and would (without Rachel's knowing) warn Shelby of the contract and ban her from proceeding with the unusually close teacher/student relationship. What would she say to Rachel? Would she just tell her not to vent to her anymore? Not to ask for Shelby's help at all? Even though everything felt so right? No. That wasn't fair to Rachel. And worse…what would Rachel think of the sudden shutting out from Shelby for absolutely no reason at all? Shelby had to stop this before something even got started. She didn't want to hurt her baby in the future. In order to prevent all this from happening, she knew there was only one thing she could do.

* * *

Rachel walked into the auditorium for practice after school. She cursed herself for having the locker on the other side of the school on the top floor, farthest away from the auditorium thus forcing her to always be the last one in the auditorium drawing all eyes on her, though today it was something different in their glares. Hatred. Obviously Taylor had gotten to all of them.

"I'm surprised she even showed up," she heard someone murmur. Before she could reply to the uncalled for comment, the principal walked on stage.

"Everyone please, can I have your attention. I have some news regarding your coach and teacher, Miss Corcoran," he began. "She came into my office during fifth period and resigned for personal reasons. Rest assured, Vocal Adrenaline will not come to an end, we will find a replacement as soon as we possibly can."

Silence followed. Finally someone stood up and broke it. "Why would she quit now? We need her! What kind personal reasons? This isn't fair!"

"She didn't explain her reasoning in detail, but as for now, you may all go home," the principal replied.

"Why don't you just ask Rachel over there," Jesse retorted. "Right before fifth period, she was having lunch with Miss Corcoran. They were actually HUGGING."

Everyone looked around the room with shocked expressions as if questioning if what Jesse said was true. "She was only attempting to make me feel better after ALL OF YOU shut me out for getting a stupid solo that I didn't ask for! And I must say, I'm just as stunned as you are due to the fact that she seemed perfectly fine."

"Wow, so she's Miss Corcoran's pet. That's how she got the solo. She probably planned this from the start," Taylor responded.

Rachel began to say "That's not true", but everyone's laughter at Taylor's statement was ringing in her head. She felt dizzy due to it all and quickly stormed out of the auditorium heading out into the parking lot. She dialed her dad's phone number.

"Hey Rachel, shouldn't you be in rehearsal?" Chris answered. He heard his daughter whimper on the other end of the phone line. "Rachel, honey, are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine, daddy. I'll explain when you get here," Rachel said back trying to hide her tears.

Chris got to the school in record time. The whole drive, he couldn't help but think this had to do with Shelby. He had his lawyer on speed dial and his phone ready when he pulled into the parking lot, ready to make the call if Shelby had violated the contract, thus hurting Rachel. He pulled up to where his daughter was standing and she got into the car.

"So what is this all about?" he asked, concerned.

"Nothing…"

"Rachel, honey, obviously it's something."

"Well," Rachel began with a sniffle. "Here's how it started." She told her dad the story about everything that had happened the past few days, leaving out the parts about Jesse liking her. She didn't want to freak him out. She just stuck with Taylor, the solo, and everyone being against her. She ended talking about her lunch with Miss Corcoran. "I was really upset about all of that and Miss Corcoran let me open up to her and it was nice…I really don't know how I would have lasted today if it weren't for her. Then I went into practice and the principal announced that she had resigned for personal reasons. I don't know how I'm going to face everyone tomorrow without her…I felt like I could tell her anything. She seemed like she genuinely cared about me and what I had to say. She even told me that she was always going to be there. I even talked to her about…my mom. Look, daddy, I know it hurts you when I talk about her, but I know what you did! I found the contract in your office a long time ago. I didn't say anything about it because I didn't want to hurt your feelings and I also felt like you were protecting me but talking with a woman who gave me advice and comforted me like a mother would felt amazing…I was so happy that I would always have her there because I've never had that kind of relationship before but then she just left before anything could get started. It was a tease, really, of what having a mom actually felt like. I love you and daddy more than you could imagine, and you two are the best parents in the whole wide world, I just don't know why I can't know! What are you protecting me from?"

By this point Rachel was yelling at her father almost, and tears were streaming down her face. She hated that it had come to this, but she couldn't help it. She had had these feelings built up in her for so long and she had to release them sometime. She had a mother, and they couldn't just go on pretending she didn't exist. They pulled into the driveway of their house.

"Rachel, I will have to discuss things with your father before responding to your question. I'm sorry," Chris responded with a look of defeat.

"Me too," Rachel looked in her lap, sadly. They got out of the car. Rachel went up to her room to leave her dads privacy to talk about whatever her father had meant they needed to discuss.

Chris informed Toby of everything that had happened. They discussed what they could possibly do and came up with a solution.

* * *

**Dun, dun dun! Cliff hanger! Sorry, guys. Though I will say that the more reviews I get, the faster I'll put up the next chapter. Hint hint. Haha. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Well, this is the last chapter of the story! I hope you like it!**

**DISCLAIMER: Song is "I Dreamed a Dream" and I do not own!**

* * *

Shelby was sitting on her couch, with a tub of ice-cream in her lap, watching Funny Girl to hopefully raise her spirits after everything that had happened that day. She wasn't upset because she was leaving her job, because it was bound to happen anyway. She needed a life away from Vocal Adrenaline. If worse came to worst, any school would hire a teacher who lead their show choir to nationals so many times, so she didn't have to worry about finding a job anywhere else. That wasn't the problem. Her problem was that leaving her baby again was the hardest thing she had ever done.

"I did what was best for her," Shelby said aloud. Another tear fell down her cheek and she wiped it away. Just then the phone rang.

She quickly composed herself before answering. "Hello?"

"Hello, Shelby," she froze at the sound of Toby Berry's voice. "My husband and I have something we would like to discuss with you."

Shelby's heart beat at a rapid pace. She could only imagine what was to come. "Sure, what is it?"

"Rachel told Chris about what happened today," Toby began. Shelby froze at his words. "She said you resigned due to personal reasons. Would any of those reasons have to do with Rachel? Please be honest with me."

Shelby took a deep breath. "Honestly? Yes. I assume she told you about lunch. It was incredible but…I just can't handle it. Her not knowing, that is. It's too hard. It's hard being around her and hear her say that she thinks her mother doesn't care about her, when I can't even tell her that her mother loves her more than anything in the world and hasn't stopped since the day she was born and will never stop. I'm afraid something will slip out and I'll accidentally say something to violate the contract. That's why I resigned."

"Rachel was so upset that you resigned. You apparently helped her a lot today," Toby replied.

"I may have just met her, but she is my daughter. I couldn't just stand there and watch her hurting," said Shelby. "I had to do something."

"I'm glad you did. But…Chris and I were talking and Rachel wants to know her mom. We came to the decision that we shouldn't tell her who her mom is. You should."

Shelby's heart sunk. Was she hearing this correctly?

"Wait, what did you just say?" Shelby asked, just to see that she wasn't just imagining this.

"We decided you should be the one to tell Rachel. We threw the contract in the fireplace today. We want to make our daughter happy. You're what she wants, Shelby."

Shelby was in tears. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. "Thank you so much," she cried. "I don't know what to say. This really is the best thing anyone has ever done for me. And I know exactly how I'm going to tell her. I have to go though. I have to make a very important phone call to a certain principal at Carmel High."

Toby laughed. "I'll talk to you later," and with that, they both hung up.

* * *

Rachel was in fourth period. There was a substitute in Miss Corcoran's place who basically acted like a babysitter so everyone was talking. She had no one to talk to, so she decided this would be the perfect time to catch up on her homework. She was doing so when the principal came on the intercom.

"Vocal Adrenaline members, you will have a brief meeting in the auditorium after school."

"Wow, they already found a replacement?" Rachel thought to herself. She texted her dad discreetly and told him about the meeting and to pick her up at 4. She was hesitant at first to text him as if everything was okay. She had felt so bad after everything she had said to her father before. She knew she had hurt her dads. In fact, they didn't even bother to pick up on the conversation of her mother last night. Deep down, she knew they wouldn't so when they came in her room that evening to kiss her goodnight, she didn't bring it up again.

The bell then rang. She walked outside into the crowded lunch room. She decided that rather than begging for Taylor's forgiveness, she would go sit with the supposed "losers" by the trashcans. She didn't care who made fun of her for doing this. Besides, she needed to follow Miss Corcoran's advice and give Taylor some space.

She sat down at the far end of the "loser" table and opened her books to do homework while she ate. She didn't talk to anyone sitting there, mostly because a loser didn't talk to anyone from Vocal Adrenaline. Vocal Adrenaline pretty much ruled the school. The "losers" were actually surprised she sat there and were too afraid to talk to her. She had seemed preoccupied in her homework anyway.

* * *

The final bell sounded and she headed towards the auditorium. When she got there, she grabbed a seat and everyone was talking quietly amongst themselves, waiting for the arrival of whoever was to come. Just then they heard footsteps walking across the stage. They looked up to see Miss Corcoran standing center stage.

"Excuse me, everyone. I just wanted to inform you all that I am not indeed resigning. There were some complications but they have now been resolved. I wanted to sing you all this song, not only explaining why I resigned, but also a message that is very personal from me to one of you. I think it pretty much says it all."

Music then began to play and Shelby started singing along to "I Dreamed a Dream" from the Broadway classic, Les Miserables. That voice sounded so familiar, but Rachel couldn't quite put her finger on where she had heard it before. She closed her eyes and absorbed Miss Corcoran's voice. It was amazing. "Wait," she thought. "This voice…the tape…my mom!"

Then as if her feet had a mind of it's own, she rose from her seat and walked onto the stage. She ignored all of the whispers from the crowd saying "What is she doing?" and "Is she really walking on stage?"

Miss Corcoran turned to face her, still singing. She grabbed Rachel's hands and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

The song was over and Shelby opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't think of the words to say. Chris was right, Rachel knew her by her voice. Tears were filling her eyes, but she was determined not to cry in front of her students. There were horrified looks from everyone in the room but she was only looking at her beautiful daughter standing in front of her.

"Mommy," Rachel whispered, throwing her arms around Shelby. She was crying, and though she said the word rather quietly, it was no doubt everyone in the room had heard what she said. Gasps and whispers echoed the entire auditorium. Shelby and Rachel held each other tightly then finally released.

Not tearing her gaze away from Rachel, Shelby dismissed everyone. "Practice tomorrow. Don't forget." And everyone was then gone except Rachel and Shelby. Shelby couldn't help herself and brought her daughter into her embrace again, taking in the moment.

"So you're her. You're my mom," Rachel said in between her sniffles into Shelby's shoulder.

"Yes, baby," Shelby replied resting her cheek on Rachel's head. "Your dads called me and told me what you said to Chris and decided it would be best if I was the one to tell you. Speaking of yesterday, when you said that you thought I wanted nothing to do with you, you were wrong. I love you. I always have, I always will."

Rachel squeezed tighter. "I've only dreamed of you ever saying that to me."

"I've dreamed of this moment since the day you were born. 'I dreamed that love would never die'."

Rachel looked up at her mom and smiled. "Love NEVER dies."

* * *

**Okay, that's the ending! I'm thinking of making a sequal, but I'm not sure. What do you think? **

**Also, if you have any story requests, just review with what you think I should write about! I'm open for anything, as long as it's Glee! **

**Please review, because I want to know what you thought of the story as a whole.**


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